Despite frustration at not starting for the Blues against Arsenal, the Belgian has bought into the methods of his new boss
Eden Hazard says Chelsea can "do something magic" with Maurizio Sarri in charge, after the Blues battled to a 3-2 Premier League win against Arsenal.
Marcos Alonso netted the winner nine minutes from time at Stamford Bridge after Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi had cancelled out earlier efforts from Pedro and Alvaro Morata in a thrilling first half.
Hazard had to wait until the hour mark for his opportunity, having been named among the substitutes, but was on hand to square the ball for Alonso to clinch all three points.
And, while frustrated at being left out of the starting XI, Hazard has bought into the methods of new boss Sarri, who arrived from Napoli to replace Antonio Conte ahead of the 2018-19 season.
"It is better to be on the pitch than on the bench, but the boys when they are playing did well, so if I'm on the pitch for 15 or 20 minutes, I do my best," he told BT Sport. "So today I am just happy for the win.
"I think [Sarri] is the kind of manager who wants to have control of the ball. I can't say a bad thing about that, I just want to play, have the ball at my feet.
"We have good players, we can do something magic, so it's good to have this kind of manager.
"I think in the Premier League we don't have time [on the ball]. He is a great manager, like we had before, now we just want to enjoy winning games."
Match winner Alonso added: "We definitely deserved it, the first half was 50-50, we start off dominating but then we left a bit of space and they played better at the end.
"But I think in the second half, since the beginning, we were the best team and it was deserved for us.
"We started pressing high after losing the ball, and that allowed us to counter-attack and have space to play the ball. I think after the first half, we came back in the second half very well and there are a lot of good things to take to the next game."
freakyfriday
86
chelsea played really well but frankly speaking alonso's side was open alot due to his movement up the pitch due to that i thought barkley could cover for him which he did not.If he could learn at how kante covers for azpi then it would be great for us or play kovacic who showed he can really track back the ball. All in all we played very attacking football
Sterzil
84
indeed, sari is a very good manager he has really helped the team. a lot he's style tactics are all. working perfectly and I see Chelsea are undergoing a new era..... Unlike before, hazard is a very good player he played well today if he wasn't on the pitch Chelsea would have obviously drawn the game.. he's an impressive and brilliant player he's of good use to the team I just wish he focuses more on the team. we need players like him... Good Luck 👊
Wodaknruz
72
kudos for the boys. but they need to improve in defence, they open much on the opponents. and for willian he needs to step up his game or may lose his position to someone who wants to play. he is not the player he was before.
Umeakpa
64
this is new era in Chelsea, as Sari always use to say there is still much room for improvement, for the game it was very great for the team and also it left many lessons for the players mostly Alonso and all the defense, kepa is still adopting to Epl, kovavic can be a great catch for the team, I wish the team all the best.
follower
54
sarri reaction before and after chelsea conceding 2 goals: Chelsea leading 2-0 : " finally i can smoke, i am relaxed arsenal drawing 2-2 : " oh my God, i don't want to be sacked " sarri after chelsea scored the winner: " i am now back alive"
IndikaAsiriSR4
41
Another Happy Memory for Chelsea Against Arsenal at the Bridge 📖️
deone5050
30
kovacic,kante,Jorgiho is a perfect combination, I think willians is not really happy on the pitch today, I guess he is not happy for not allowing him join Barcelona. I love the kind of ball Chelsea is playing now but they have to press more high and be confidence at back. up chelsea.